What makes people feel most loved: romantic words or meaningful actions? We’ve all heard the clichés that women are easily swayed by sweet talk, while men are immune to it. But a new study published in Evolutionary Psychological Science puts these stereotypes to the test, and flips them upside down.
The research shows that women consistently prefer “sweet actions” over “sweet words,” while men show more flexibility, often swayed by context and emotional warmth.
As co-author of the study, Jianmin Zeng, explained to me in a recent interview, “People generally have the stereotype that females are more easily swayed by sweet words than males, but little empirical work has been devoted to testing this stereotype, which motivated us to conduct this research.”
So what does this mean for modern couples? Here are three big takeaways, and how to apply them in your relationship.
1. Actions Build Trust (Especially For Women)
Women value actions more than words. Zeng explains why: “Compared with males, females naturally need more sweet actions. Females endure the tasks of pregnancy and childcare. Such tasks are tough and quite material; sweet words can help a little, but sweet actions can help a lot.”
Evolutionarily speaking, women…
